10th std The Hundred Dresses Part 1

10^th std The Hundred Dresses Part 1

Extract based questions

Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.

1.Today, Monday, Wanda Petronski was not in her seat. But nobody, not even Peggy and Maddie……………….quiet and rarely said anything at all. And nobody had ever heard her laugh out loud. Sometimes she twisted her mouth into a crooked sort of smile, but that was all.
(a) Who didn’t notice Wanda’s absence?
(b) Why did Wanda Petronski sit in the last row of the class?
(c) Find out the word which means the same as ‘dragging’.
(d) What kind of a girl Wanda was?

(a) Wanda’s absence was not noticed by anyone, not even by Peggy and Maddie who used to tease her everyday after school.
(b) Wanda Petronski sat in the last row of the class because she was very quiet and wanted to avoid the taunts and trouble by girls in the class.
(c) The word is ‘scuffling’
(d) Wanda was very quiet and serious girl who didn’t involve in the activities with other girls. No body hadn’t seen her laughing or playing.

2. But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down in front with other children who got good …………...Peggy and Maddie noticed Wanda’s absence was because Wanda had made them late to school.
(a) What kind of a girl Peggy was?
(b) How did Peggy and Maddie turn up late for school?
(c) Find a word that means the opposite of ‘absence’.
(d) Who noticed Wanda’s absence in the class?

(a) Peggy was a pretty and the most popular girl in her school. She was very helpful and very close to Maddie.
(b) Peggy and Maddie turned up late to school because they waited for Wanda to make fun of her.
(c) The word is ‘presence’.
(d) Peggy and Maddie who sat down in front of other children noticed Wanda’s absence in the class.

3. Wanda didn’t have any friends. She came to school alone and went home alone. She always …………………….. ‘A hundred !” exclaimed all the little girls incredulously, and the little ones would stop playing hopscotch and listen.
(a) Did Wanda have any friend? Why did girls surround her?
(b) How did the girls make fun of Wanda?
(c) Find the word which means ‘unwilling to accept’.
(d) What did Wanda Wear always?

(a) No, Wanda didn’t have any friends. Girls surrounded her as she watched little girls play hopscotch on the ground.
(b) The girls made fun of Wanda by asking her questions about the hundred dresses she once claimed of having.
(c) The word is ‘incredulously’.
(d) Wanda always wore a faded blue dress, though it was clean but it had never been ironed properly.

4. Peggy was not really cruel. She protected small children from bullies. ………………. And she wasn’t just an ordinary person, else why did she have a name like that ? Anyway, they never made her cry.
(a) Peggy was not cruel. Give reason.
(b) Why did Peggy tease Wanda?
(c) Find out the word which means the same as ‘ Ill-treated’.
(d) Did Wanda lie about her hundred dresses?

(a) Peggy was not cruel as she protected small children from bullies and cried after seeing an animal ill-treated.
(b) Peggy teased Wanda because Wanda lied about having a hundred dresses and an unusual name.
(c) The word is ‘mistreated’.
(d) Wanda did not lie about her hundred dresses as she had hundred drawings of different dresses and she always talked about them.

5. Sometimes, when Peggy was asking Wanda those questions in that mocking polite voice, Maddie felt embarrassed ……………………... than to say she had a hundred dresses. Still she would not like for them to begin on her. She wished peggy would stop teasing Wanda Petronski.
(a) Why did Maddie feel embarrassed when Peggy teased Wanda?
(b) What did Maddie want Peggy to do?
(c) Find the word which means the same as ‘ashamed or humiliated’.
(d) What is the difference between Maddie and Wanda?

(a) Maddie felt embarrassed when Peggy teased Wanda because she herself was poor and did not want herself at Wanda’s place.
(b) Maddie wanted Peggy to stop teasing Wanda as it was not good to make fun of her name or about dresses.
(c) The word is ‘embarrassed’.
(d) The difference between Maddie and Wanda is that though Maddie was also poor but not as poor as Wanda. But Wanda would have more sense than to say she had a hundred dresses.

6. She wished she had the nerve to write Peggy a note, because she knew she never would have the courage ………………….. Maddie’s mother had tried to disguise with new trimmings so no one in Room Thirteen would recognise it.
(a) Why was Maddie afraid of speaking to Peggy to stop teasing Wanda?
(b) Where did Maddie get her dresses from?
(c) Find the word that means ‘decorations’.
(d) What had Maddie’s mother done with the old dresses of Peggy? Why?

(a) Maddie was afraid of losing Peggy’s friendship and did not want to be her next target of fun.
(b) Maddie got her dresses from rich families and few of them were of Peggy.
(c) The word is ‘trimming’.
(d) Maddie’s mother had tried to disguise the old dresses of Peggy with new trimmings so no one in Maddie’s class would recognise them.

7. As for Wanda, she was just some girl who lived up on Beggings Heights and stood ………………….. remembered her telling about one of her dresses, pale blue with coloured trimmings.
And she remembered another that was brilliant jungle green with a red sash. “You’d look like a Christmas tree in that,” the girls had said in pretended admiration.
(a) Where did Wanda live and what did she talk . about?
(b) How-did Wanda reply to Peggy’s mocking her?
(c) Find out the synonym of ‘hardly’ as used in the passage.
(d) What did Maddie remember about Wanda’s dresses?

(a) Wanda lived up on Boggins Heights and she talked about a hundred dresses of different colours.
(b) Wanda replied to Peggys’s mocking her by drawing sketches of a hundred dresses in the drawing competition.
(c) The word is ‘scarcely’.
(d) Maddie remembered a few of Wanda’s dresses like a pale blue with coloured trimmings and another brilliant jungle green with a red sash.

8. ‘As for the girls” she said, although just one or two sketches were submitted by most. One girl and Room Thirteen ……………….. worthy of winning the prize. I am very happy to say that Wanda Petronski is the winner of the girls’ medal.”
(a) Who does ‘one girl1 refer to in the passage?
(b) What was the result of the drawing competition?
(c) Find out the antonym of the word ‘unreliable’ used in the given passage.
(d) What was the opinion of the judges of the drawing competition about Wanda’s drawing?

(a) ‘One girl’ refers to Wanda Petronski in the passage.
(b) Wanda Petronski won the drawing competition by drawing the sketches of hundred beautiful dresses and each of them was worthy enough to win the competition individually.
(c) The word is ‘worthy’.
(d) In the opinion of the judges, any one of Wanda’s drawings is worthy of winning the prize.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?

A. Wanda used to sit in that corner of the classroom where the rough boys sat, the boys who got the lowest marks and had the loudest laughter. No one ever knew why she really sat there but there were guesses that it was because of the dirt her shoes carried from all the mud.

Q2. Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?

A. Wanda lived in Boggins Heights. According to the description given in the chapter, it was that part of the city or town where poor people lived. The place was filled with mud which is where Wanda got the dirt on her shoes from.

Q3. When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?

A. On Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie noticed that Wanda was missing. They had been waiting for her outside school, before school began. As she did not come, they even got late for school. It was then that they realized her absence from school.

Q4. Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did?

A. No, Wanda did not actually have a hundred dresses; she only had drawings of them. She was a poor girl who would have desired to have a closet full of hundred dresses, all lined up. That is why, she said that she did have them.

Q5. Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different?

A. Maddie is embarrassed by how Peggy deals with Wanda not because she cares about Wanda, but because she was poor herself and feared that one day, they would treat her the same way. Maddie is a poor girl but not as poor as Wanda and unlike Wanda, she had a lot of friends.

Q6. Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggie to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?

A. Maddie did not ask Peggy to stop teasing Wanda because as she too was poor, she feared that she could be the next target for the girls. As Maddie wore hands down clothes given by Peggy, she was afraid that if they did not tease Wanda, then probably, they would start teasing her.

Q7. How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?

A. Other girls saw Wanda as poor and vulnerable. She had a strange name, did not make friends and remained quiet. She sat in the corner with the rough and noisy boys. Wanda always wore the same dress and came from a place full of mud on the roads. The other girls treated her badly and belittled her. They made fun of Wanda.

Q8. How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?

A. Wanda felt embarrassed and insulted when other girls played the dresses game on her. She claimed to have a hundred dresses in order to put those insults and jokes away. Actually, she was preparing drawings of a hundred dresses for the drawing competition and she referred to them when the girls asked her that how many dresses did she have.

Q9. Why does Maddie stand by and not do anything? How is she different from Peggy? (Was Peggy’s friendship important to Maddie? Why? Which lines in the text tell you this?)

A. Maddie stands quietly and watches as Peggy humiliates Wanda because she felt that Peggy was high and mighty. Thus, Peggy could never be wrong. As Maddie was poor herself, she feared that she could be the next target for the girls to mock at. Also, Maddie did not tease Wanda while Peggy did. Yes, Peggy’s friendship was important to Maddie. The lines which indicate this are “Peggy was the most popular girl in school. She was pretty, she had many pretty clothes and her hair was curly. Maddie was her closest friend.”

Q10. What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know?

A. Miss Mason thought of Wanda’s drawings to be wonderful. She even said that judges liked it so much and thought any one of them to be worthy of winning. The children too, were awestruck at the sight of such beautiful paintings. It is evident from the fact that the boys, who had no interest in dresses, were whistling and Peggy who thought of herself to be the best artist, accepted that Wanda’s drawings were amazing.